DOWNLOADDOWNLOADThere was a time when poker was solely a game associated with the West and primarily enjoyed by men. This poker culture was even more true in the case of India. The western game itself was new when it entered the Asian sub continent, most of us still enjoy watching the likes of Bond 007 playing it cool in Hollywood.
However, with the changing taste and insane global mashup of cultures, Poker today enjoys a surreal appeal in the Indian gaming community. Talk about popularity and common appeal, women players are no way behind in the Indian poker race and Muskan Sethi happens to be a shining example among them.
Muskan Sethi poker player is India’s first ever sponsored female professional player who inspires the ladies to lead by example. Today, she is the brand ambassador of the PokerStars India, online card room, originally headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Poker, earlier seen as a taboo, is often cornered to the arena of gambling, but with the rising awareness of the sport and the pros taking it mainstream, players like Muskan Sethi unveils the mental challenge that is encountered to achieve success in this glamorous sport.
Hailing from the capital state of India, New Delhi, Muskan Sethi has always been into strategic games and she learned poker from her father at the age of 11. She has been into sports since childhood and poker came naturally to her. When facebook came up with free Zynga poker games, Muskan Sethi went at it like a moth to the flame. Her transition to online poker from playing with live players has been seamless.
Muskan Sethi poker player finished her graduation from Delhi University but switched her interest and went to the UK to pursue a degree in Fashion Journalism and Brand Management.
Trivia: Did you know Muskan Sethi’s grandma also played poker and was called the ‘Great Gambler’?
Muskan played plenty of free poker on facebook, she honed her skills and entered a television show known as the Shark Cage that allows players qualifying from online poker sites to play against professionals and celebrities in the sport.
This television appearance of Sethi in the year 2014 cemented her calling in the mind sport and the world of poker turned their heads toward this brand new female poker professional and acknowledged her talent as one among skilled professional poker players. This global event landed her the role of the brand ambassador of PokerStars.
Being the first ever female professional poker player earned Muskan Sethi plenty of accolades back in home too and eventually earned the “First Ladies” award by the Indian President. The government of India then roped her in to become the Responsible Gaming Face and Ambassador for the entire country.
Today, Muskan Sethi has plenty of interests including Tennis but by profession, she is a mainstream poker player. She is flying with her achievements at the green felts of mega poker championships. It was a quirky moment when her winning poker hand trumped too many players, which is when her fellow mates asked her to shift tables as she was on a winning streak. She won the Pokerstars tournament in Barcelona in 2018 and was among the 70,000 entries. Ever since, Muskan Sethi has been playing professional poker for seven years in a row now, each year marking her territory in Las Vegas.
According to her, both live poker and online poker complement each other. The skills one learn from playing with absolute strangers in online poker helps her apply those skills in live tournaments and win much more.
Muskan Sethi poker player’s net worth is unknown, the numbers vary across the internet although the most common number touted online is around 1.5Crore in Indian rupees.
In on of the interviews, when asked what role has poker played in her life, she responds saying that the game has taught her few solid lessons, from sussing at how people think, act and react under pressure and realise the importance of being a thorough thinker as game of poker only gives you half baked information which one must make the best sense of to use it to his or her favour.
